jeff trikeAerotrike Cobra 912, with a Rival-X wing.

1800 hrs as of January 2019

Topic 4) Urge to land on dirt roads

Last updated by jeff trike Comments (13)

Categories: Trike Talk, Safety

Trikes are the ultimate recreational exploration vehicle. As long as you stay clear of populated areas, man-made structures, or controlled airspace, you can go anywhere.  The ability to go where ever you want, past the fences and locked gates is the best thing about trikes, and is my main motivation for flying. You feel almost super human flying a trike.  The top of the mountain, a remote meadow are all within easy reach.  For the new and intermediate pilot, these new found powers are intoxicating. Before long, you notice a velvety smooth pasture next to the old ruin or, may the nearby dirt road?   It would be so easy to land there. The short answer is "Don't".

I am continually tested on this point and have to actively suppress this urge in myself.  Over time, it has become easier to suppress this after seeing first hand or hearing about many crashes that involve landing on a dirt road.  It takes just one bad incident to total your trike or body.  Certainly, not worth the "Hey look at Me ! " bragging rights you get from landing on the dirt road.

A dirt road is much more narrow than most runways, but it is usually in some cool location. Near at scenic spot or by someone's house.  Often someone you are flying with someone who will land on a dirt road, and you want to prove you are just as good a pilot. Landing on dirt roads  is often rationalized as practicing an emergency landing.  But the new or intermediate pilot would be much better off practicing landings on an airport runway in thermally or cross wind conditions.  Those skills will serve you well in all landings,  airport or emergency. Landing on a dirt road in dead calm conditions is not that difficult but can easly go badly wrong.

You need to watch out for signs on the side of the road that are often placed every tenth of a mile, or 530 ft.  Those sign posts will grab and pivot the wing and crash you on the take off or landing roll out.  Relatively small rocks or bumps can hit the nose wheel and put the trike into a turn.  Oncoming cars are another danger.  Cops of various types will be glad to give you a ticket or impound your aircraft.  Don't ever land outside of an airport on an Indian Reservation in the US.

Surface conditions of anything but a maintained runway carries additional risks that the new or intermediate pilot is unaware of or may not be ready to deal with. There are plenty of dirt or grass strips around to practice on first before going anywhere near a dirt road. Note that any "velvetly smooth" pasture is 100 times rougher than the worst runway, and the worst maintained runway is 10 times smother than a dirt road.  

I learned this the hard way after landing on a "smooth" field. Landing was no problem, but on takeoff my nose wheel hit a clump of grass, and put my trike into an arcing turn.  I started to tip to the side and one of the mains left the ground for a second.  I pulled my footoff the gas, but my throttle cable was a little sticky and would not go all the way to idle. I didn't want to take my hand off the control bar to hit the kill switches because the tipping was getting worse. Eventually, I had no choice.  I flipped the kill switches and quickly rolled to a stop.

After catching my breath, I noticed a cloud of dust approaching.  It was a 4wheel ATV. Instead of fleeing the scene, I got out of the trike to greet my visitor.  I noticed my visitor was packing a holstered pistol and had a rifle lashed down across the top of his ATV.  Typical gear for a rancher in the middle of nowhere out in New Mexico.  We said "Hello", then asked, "Did you have some problem that forced you down here?" 

I condsidered bluffing my way out of the situation, but I hate being dishonest.  I said, "No, I don't, I'm just seeing how well my trike can land out here in the dirt."

The rancher then replied, "Do you have permission from the owner of the property to land here?".

Well, I might as well stick with the truth,  "Actually no, " I said, "Do you know who owns this property so I can ask him?"    

"I own this property, and that's my cattle over there." pointing a mangy half starved herd of 20 animals near a muddy watering hole.   

I apologized for landing on his property, and said would have asked for permission if I knew who owned the land and how to contact him. I also told him I made sure I gave his cattle a wide berth on landing. At that he lighted up a little and said it was ok. Eventually, he gave me permission to land here all I wanted, but just me, not any of my friends.  I told him he should get a trike, as he could very efficiently survey his property, and it would be a lot of fun.  I even offered to meet him at the airport and take him for a ride as a way to repay him for trespassing on his property. He laughed and said, "No thanks, I don't want that sort of pay-back."   

I took off and headed back home, feeling I had dodged a couple bullets that morning. That morning's near tip over followed by my interaction with the rancher removed most of my desire to land on dirt roads.  It took me 6.5 years of flying to get there.  I know others who figured it out sooner, unfortunately it was after totaling their trike with a crash.

Comments

  • Noel C

    Hi Jeff,

    Thanks for your perspective.  It is great to get first hand experience from those that have plenty of hours and a range of experiences under their belt.  I have not experienced the desire to do the off airfield landings and your story re affirms the hazards.  I will certainly take your advice and stick to the formal airfields.  I believe you have flown into a number of remote (and potentially poorly maintained) airstrips.  Perhaps you could describe how you approach these strips and what you look out for when landing at these sort of strips.

  • Tussock

    Hey Jeff, where I live we land in paddocks, on beaches and dirt roads, near picnic spots or farm houses as the norm.  We simply don't have many sealed runways here.  I think I've landed on sealed runways 8 times in 1600 hrs. A trans-Pacific difference. We live in the boonies here! ;) I don't disagree with any of the points you're making, but sometimes needs must, and sometimes the joy of landing in out-of-the-way places justifies a degree of risk. 

    There are ways to do it. The use of prop guards and a mudflap is mandatory, as prop damage is otherwise likely. Low tyre pressure helps too. A low flyover to check - where you really LOOK at where you're proposing to land - is the first task.  Here, rocks, rabbit holes and tussocks are the usual things to avoid, but other strays such as a section of barbed wire, a pipe tucked in the grass, a shallow watercourse or other hazards do crop up.  Next, a timed flyover at a given speed over the intended landing roll gives the distance, using a rule of 50 knots is 25 metres a second (so ten seconds flying gives you 250 metres etc). Approach slow, ready to hit the gas if need be. You want to minimise the time the nosewheel is down and rolling. Always during landing, and it's absolutely paramount if it's turbulent or there's a crosswind, you hold the nose wheel off as long as possible, and keep the bar at the compression strut until you've rolled to a stop.

    Walking the proposed takeoff lets you clear any hazards.  Taking off, its full throttle with the brakes on, let her go, and get the nose wheel light straight away and break ground as soon as possible.

    Some manufacturers offer tundra tyres for these situations.  They're great, and do help, but aren't usually necessary (I don't have 'em, but I'd like them).

    Anyway, I'm not trying to be controversial; I just want to offer a different perspective and say that outlandings here where I live are perfectly normal, and landing in unfamiliar surroundings is part and parcel of our local triking scene.

     

     

  • jeff trike

    Tussock,

    Landing on dirt strips is fine and there is a lot you can do as you described in your post to make it safer.  

    I was mainly trying to warn new pilots to avoid landing on dirt roads.   It is risky operation and should not to be done casually.

    I know one guy who landed on a dirt road to take a leak.   He did fine, but when he took off he caught the wing on a sign post, pivoted and crashed.   Another guy who likes to land on dirt roads in dead calm conditions.  He tried to land on a smooth dirt road, but it had a slight rise, and turn and he was touched down way too fast.   He tried to abort but ended up cartwheeling the trike on an Indian Reservation.  He was lucky to survive the crash and get out of their with his gear.  Another guy landed perfectly on a dirt road, but when he taxied to turn around, his wheel got caught in a ditch beside the road and the trike ended up rolling over, and the prop cut up the wing.   Another pilot made one of his first flights to a narrow and short dirt strip near his house in the boonies, the winds were cross and strong, the trike ended up going off to the side, rolling and destroying the wing.   The list goes on and on.  All of these guys had low hours at the time of their mishap.

    If you know of any mishaps or near misses about landing on dirt roads, please share them here.  

  • Rick D

    Great information on this subject. I am one of those new pilots and don't mind learning from others mistakes. Less trial and error = more fun.

  • jeff trike

    Tussock,

    You commented

    "You want to minimise the time the nosewheel is down and rolling. Always during landing, and it's absolutely paramount if it's turbulent or there's a crosswind, you hold the nose wheel off as long as possible, and keep the bar at the compression strut until you've rolled to a stop."

    I agree with you.  Keep it off the ground as long as possible.  The nose wheel jarring on bumps, grass, rocks can put you into a turn and send you off to the side and off the runway.   Plus it rattles the crap out of the trike carriage. However there are many who advocate pining the nose wheel down as soon as possible.   That might work on smooth asphalt, but not on a bumpy surface.

     

  • Tussock

    All good, Jeff. 

    Ive got a car that was born 31 years ago and bears the scars of my stupidity in parking lots. Every now and then a stationery kerb or lamp post seems to leap in front of me and Toby loses more paint or gains a new and interesting sculpture. I think those who take off into road signs, taxi into ditches, touch down too fast or screw up a crosswind landing might know my pain. It doesn't seem to be parking lots or dirt roads in any of the above that's to blame. We all do stupid things from time to time and I'm at least as stupid as anyone else. So while I haven't fluffed a dirt road landing or takeoff yet in spite of doing hundreds of them, I've still broken a propellor on a picnic table, a feat that takes an incomprehensible level of stupidity, and they don't call me Tussock for nothing. 

    I understand that you're warning low hour pilots from overextending themselves, which is patently a good thing. I don't want to hijack your post, but maybe if it's possible to land on dirt roads safely, you could ask low hour pilots what factors they should consider, what specific skills they need, and how they'd go about it? Sorry for butting in, I guess I'm being selfish but I seem to learn a lot from paper exercises. There's lots of techniques for determining wind direction on the ground, finding slopes, estimating rollout, dealing with crosswinds, aligning straight, keeping upright on rollout etc. 

     

  • Ken

    At least out in my part of the desert one of my largest concerns is power lines. I'm frequently eyeing dirt roads as potential landing sites in case of an engine out, and more often than not the power line is the only reason the road is there in the first place. The lines themselves can be hard to see and so I'm always on the look out for poles, or shadows of poles that will give them away. The single wooden pole to a residence or structure seem to be the hardest to spot.

  • Jozinko

    Hi guys, its a good information Exchange here. I agree with all what you wrote here. Its dangerous (OMG Jeff - the farmer with a gun...), but like Tussock wrote, its Quite normal here too. I know some pilots who made a mistake when they landed to lane. They were low hour (mostly) and experienced pilots too. All specific skills are writen here.

    My experience: Before landing to lane, meadow or other unpaved area, if it is possible, I do very low pass and watching about any obstacle, wind direction etc. Better is landing on main landing gear, but sometime is rough surface and you can bump all 3 wheels. A few second befor touch I give front Wheel straight and fixed foot on pedals. When front Wheel touch down NEVER BRAKING, only firmly keep pedals and straight. Immediately I pull control bar, for all wheels down firmly. Next, when Im rolling, Im able turning and braking. In my opinion, a lot of pilots made a mistake, they hold the nose Wheel too long time and pushed contorl bar out. Front Wheel havent contact with ground, or bad contact, then a tussock, or stone, or something can thrust the Wheel to bad side and throuble can start... Other way, if you have a crosswind and your trike fly slant. Beautifull cross landing I saw at YFT (by YFT and Hedgeview) and I tried it there with Hedgeview on his Tanarg.

  • Monty

    in 1993 i was attempting to fly my weedhopper (ultralight) down the baja peninsular. i landed on a narrow access rd to the san felipe airport (avoiding the $50 landing fee!). didn't see the signpost alongside the road during landing, smacked it with the wing-tip, swinging me down off the road into the cactus. rocks and pucker brush. with lightening-quick reflexes i gassed it back up on the road in time to smack the other wing on another road sign i also hadn't seen. the very next vehicle to come along was was the local 'commandante' of the mexican' faa'. he told me " chu are in a lottoff trobble!". (but that's another story!) monty ( i have the video i took but it's on tape, probably best left on tape! )

  • Monty

    in my 'grainy' video of 'monty's unimproved landing strip' it can be seen that 'quite rough' surface can be re-attached to with a little care. also in the video '503 pukes' about 2-3 yrs ago i received quite a bit of 'biting' criticism for my landing method 'faults' (deadstick) on a bit of 'nasty' dirt. oh, well, yer can't win-em-all!

  • Jozinko

    Yea, Monty, I saw your videos 503 pukes and sagging. I think, you are an expert for take off and landing on dirty surface :)

  • Tussock

    The question of which bar position is best during rollout on rough ground is easy to resolve. Try taxiing fast (quite fast, but don't get airborne!) over rough ground, with the bar in different positions. See which position gives the best control when bouncing around.

    On rough ground you could do your take off roll the same way for the same reason. If you like the bar-in position, you could hold the bar in for your takeoff roll until takeoff speed was reached, then push out and rotate.

    Landed on these tussocks yesterday. As it was, everyone chose bar out/stick back for takeoff and landing roll... but then, look at that motley crew. The most suspect individuals this side of the black stump. You should decide for yourself before following what this ugly lot does.

    image.jpg

  • Tussock

    And that offer of a beer still stands, Monty! And anyone else who gets down safely and smoothly after an engine out - I'll buy the first round!